01 Jun 2019 LCS Summer Split

As I’m sitting here watching the LoL Academy game between TSM Academy and CLG Academy, I’m thinking a lot about the upcoming Summer Split and about the path to Worlds that wants to be fulfilled by every team. Could Team Liquid make ANOTHER run for the Split title or could another team potentially take the Split? Who will end up at the top of the standings and who will be the boosted team of the season? There are ten teams all looking to win, some for the first time and some to further solidify their dynasties.

1. Cloud 9 (15-3)

Cloud 9, despite losing in the Semi-Finals of the Spring Split, has had one of the more consistent teams in the LCS and have recently picked up lesser known, but promising prospects in “Jukes” and “Diamond”. The strategy of switching Svenskeren/Nisqy and Blaber/Goldenglue proved to be somewhat effective last split. If these switches can be mastered and implemented to their full capacity, it would be extremely hard for teams to pick around them.

2. Team Liquid (14-4)

Team Liquid has destroyed the LCS for the past 3 splits and have no intentions of slowing down. Their team, based off of raw talent, easily has every other team beat, but who doesn’t love a good underdog? Toppling the Giant that is Team Liquid isn’t going to be an easy task in any sense of the phrase, but teams have been able to figure out their playstyle and favorite comps. With the addition of little to no significant players (Except Mike Yueng. A very underrated jungler in my opinion), Team Liquid either need to change their style or attempt to prevail through what they know.

3. Team SoloMid (12-6)

I used to think that Bjergsen was an overrated player that only had a few good splits. Now I realize how wrong I was. He has put TSM on his back time and time again, only changing styles to work around the different teammates he’s been given. Broken Blade has shown that he belongs in the LCS, but a few mistakes and it puts a blemish on your reputation. TSM have been one of the more consitent teams of the LCS as well, taking down the number 2 seeded Cloud 9 to advance to the Spring Split finals. Do they have what it takes to prevail all the way to the finals again?

4. FlyQuest (10-8)

FlyQuest surprised a lot of NA by going as far as they did in the Spring Split playoffs. Two veteran players in Wildturtle and Pobelter bring knowledge alongside the talent of “Santorin”, “Engo”, and “JayJ”. FlyQuest needs to have a focus on objectives and map rotation if they want to climb into the top 3 due to the fact that they don’t have the raw talent. With smart drafts utilizing new champs(Yuumi and the new Mordekaiser), FlyQuest could generate a new and faster playstyle that could catch teams off guard.

5. Echo Fox (9-9)

I love the composition of players that Echo Fox has put together. To the average viewer, Echo Fox doesn’t look like that strong of a team. But if you recall how good some of these players were in the past, you’d think otherwise. Echo Fox have to utilize the aggressiveness of “Rush” with his infamous Lee Sin and insane counter-jungling pathing. “Apollo” and “Lourlo” have had good synergy in the recent Splits and I’m excited to see how they will adapt to the increasing “Funnel” strategies and the changing Bot lane meta.

6. Golden Guardians (8-10)

Golden Guardians have recently picked up one of the best top laners in the LCS in “Darshan” and gain “Huhi” as well, why aren’t they ranked higher? The jungle is the reason. “Hard” hasn’t been playing to the caliber of other junglers in the LCS and that will inevitably bring them down. While they did finish higher last season, I think their roster still needs to find their own playstyle rather than trying to copy strategies of other teams.

7. 100 Thieves (7-11)

Probably the biggest disappointment of the 2019 Spring Split was 100 Thieves. Just coming off of Worlds, they looked poised to take a solid 3rd-4th place spot. Then they went 4-14. This roster has a lot of individual talent and I’m not one to overlook that. “Ssumday”, “Aphromoo”, and “Bang” have done their hardest to make this team what it was in 2018. I think 100 Thieves has the opportunity to better this Split, but if the last Split is any indicator, they’re going to need to do a lot to crawl back.

8. Counter-Logic Gaming (5-13)

CLG has lost some of its key players traded away and has to work a lot harder than it’s had to in the past. The loss of these players has hurt the team’s overall talent and strength. New additions in “Tuesday” and “Fallenbandit” could potentially bring a different style to Counter-Logic Gaming, but until these players prove themselves in the LCS, they won’t advance any higher.

9. OpTic Gaming (4-14)

OpTic has put together a decent roster that could bring their team out of the bottom of the leaderboards. However, they are going to need time to mesh together and find team compositions that would work toward their strengths. The addition of “Crown” could definitely prove to be effective to the overall power of their squad. Who knows, maybe “Meteos” could sub in and destroy the opposition with memes.

10. Clutch Gaming (2-16)

I like the players that are on Clutch’s roster, but I don’t like the way they will mesh together. The consistency of players like “Huni” and “Cody Sun” isn’t enough to bring their team from the bottom. This needs to be found if Clutch wants to be anywhere near the top. There is a lot of potential on this team, but only time will tell what they will do with it.